Translation of abstract (English)

Otto Friedrich von Richter was born on 6th August 1791 in Neu-Kusthof (Vastse-Kuuste) near Dorpat (Tartu), as the son of the district magistrate von Otto Magnus von Richter (1755-1826).His private tutor since 1803 till 1808 was the later chancellor of Dorpat University Gustav Ewers (1779-1830). The young von Richter studied Latin, classical and modern Greek (at home and in Moscow 1808/1809) and travelled in 1809 to Heidelberg in order to continue with Persian and Arab languages. His main mentor there became professor Friedrich Wilken (1777-1840). In 1811 he moved to Vienna where he completed hies studies and came in contact with Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), the famous pre-Romantic and especially with one of the greatest representativies of European oriental studies Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856). In autumn 1814 von Richter travelled via Odessa to Istanbul (Constantinopel) where he improved his Persian and Arabic knowledge and began to learn Turkish. Here, in Ottoman capital, the young Balte subject of Russian Empire met the Swede Sven Fredrik Lidman (1784-1845), at the time the preacher of the Swedish Ambassy who already in 1811 had become a lecturer in Arabic at the University of Uppsala. In 1815 travelled von Richter and Lidman together in Egypt and Lower-Nubia. Otto Friedrich von Richter intended to compare the most important monuments of Nubia with those of Persia and India which were earmarked for the future visite. Suddenly died von Richter in 1816 of on infectius disease at Smyrna (Izmir). Richter's papers and collection of antiquities were returned to his family. His scientifical heritage (letters and notebooks) was very long time unpublished. In course of last years it was partly published by G. Ewers, F. W. Hinkel, I. Jürjo and Sergei Stadnikow (Stadnikov). Scholar's antiquities were presented by his father to the University of Dorpat (Tartu), but during World War I they were transferred to the Museum of Fine Arts, Voronezh (Russia).